Generally described, telecommunications devices and communication networks facilitate the collection and exchange of information. Utilizing a communication network and relevant communication protocols, a computing device can engage in voice and data communications with a wide variety of computing devices. In accordance with a telecommunications-based environment, telecommunications-based devices, such as mobile terminals, establish connections with various computing devices via a wireless communication network provided by a wireless communication service provider.
Wireless telecommunication networks are comprised of base stations or “cells” that transmit and receive radio signals within a particular geographic area. The geographic area for which a cell can provide wireless telecommunications services at an acceptable level of quality is known as the coverage of the cell, and the quantity of devices or the data throughput that the cell can support within its geographic area is known as the capacity of the cell. Cells may vary in coverage area according to the amount of power used for radio transmissions, the orientation and capabilities of antennas, the terrain, buildings, interfering signals, or other features that affect radio wave propagation.
To deliver service across a large geographic region, wireless communication service providers maintain networks of cells with overlapping coverages and capacities. Wireless communication service providers use predictive models and collected data to determine candidate locations for adding cells to their networks. However, the accuracy of these predictive models and data-gathering techniques is increasingly at issue as the coverage area of a cell decreases.